A BABY boy who survived the Asian tsunami and was being claimed by nine couples will be reunited with his parents tomorrow after they passed court-ordered DNA tests.
The infant, who survived the giant waves on December 26 that killed 35,000 Sri Lankans, was found among bodies and debris and taken to hospital in Kalmunai, 300km (190 miles) east of the capital, Colombo.
Dubbed Baby 81 by the hospital because he was the 81st tsunami victim admitted hours after the disaster, the two-month-old boy wasclaimed by nine couples who had lost their children. Murugupillai Jeyarajah and his wife, Jenita, were the only couple to launch a legal battle for Baby 81’s custody, and they turned out to be the rightful parents of the child, named Abilash.
Yesterday’s DNA results ended eight weeks of uncertainty and drama surrounding the baby. “I’m so happy and I only have to thank God for giving my child back,” Mr Jeyarajah, 31, said. “We’ve got the results for all our hardships.”
The boy will be reunited with his parents tomorrow when they have been ordered to attend court. “They have to wait only two more days,” a Kalmunai court registrar said.
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The couple had always said that the boy was torn from his mother’s arms by the force of the waves. They had also said that documents which proved that Abilash was theirs had been washed away with their belongings.
Mrs Jeyarajah, 25, said that as soon as she regained custody of her baby, she would smash 100 coconuts at a temple of the Hindu elephant god, Ganesh, offer sweet rice to the warrior god, Murugan, and kill a cock for the goddess Kali.
The family have been living in a camp close to Kalmunai since December 26. This month, the couple were arrested and released on bail after they charged into the hospital with 70 supporters and snatched the infant from his cot. Mr Jeyarajah, a barber, threatened to commit suicide if the infant was not handed over to them. Onlookers stopped him from swallowing a white powder. But the couple left without Abilash after appeals from staff at the hospital. Police arrested the Jeyarajahs and two supporters after hospital staff alleged that they had been assaulted.